Cumberland Plateau salamander explained

The Cumberland Plateau salamander (Plethodon kentucki) is a species of salamander in the family Plethodontidae. It is endemic to the Cumberland Plateau, the southeastern United States. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Description

A medium to large sized terrestrial Plethodontid salamander which is similar in appearance and life history to the Northern slimy salamander, which it is sympatric with. The Cumberland plateau salamander was first described in 1951,^[1] but the validity of the species was questioned in 1955^[2] until it was validated in 1983.^[3] This species likely hybridizes with Plethodon glutinosus; hybridization is common with other members of the slimy salamander complex.^[4]

Distribution

Found in the Cumberland plateau in eastern Kentucky, western West Virginia, northern Tennessee and western Virginia, the species is not found east of the Kanawha and New rivers.

Notes and References

1. Mittleman. Myron B.. 1951. American Caudata. VII. Two new salamanders of the genus Plethodon . Herpetologica. 7. 3. 105–112 . 27669682.
2. Clay. William. Case. B. Cunningham. R . amp . 1955. On the taxonomic status of the slimy salamander Plethodon glutinosus (Green), in southeastern Kentucky . Transactions of the Kentucky Academy of Science . 16. 57–65 .
3. Highton. Richard. MacGregor. John . amp . 1983. Plethodon kentucki Mittleman: a valid species of Cumberland Plateau woodland salamander. Herpetologica. 39 . 3 . 189–200 . 3892563.
4. Kuchta. SR. Brown. AD. Converse. PE. Highton. R . amp . 2016. Multilocus phylogeography and species delimitation in the Cumberland Plateau salamander, Plethodon kentucki: incongruence among data sets and methods . PLOS ONE. 11. 3. e0150022 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0150022 . 26974148 . 4790894 . 2016PLoSO..1150022K . free.